East Side man admits Twitter threats against Obama

Wednesday

Apr 24, 2013 at 12:01 AMApr 25, 2013 at 12:07 PM

A local Twitter user has agreed to plead guilty to one count of threatening the president of the United States. U.S. attorneys yesterday filed a plea deal in federal court outlining the agreement they've made with Daniel Temple, 36, of Malibu Drive on the East Side.

Kathy Lynn Gray, The Columbus Dispatch

A local Twitter user has agreed to plead guilty to one count of threatening the president of the United States.

U.S. attorneys yesterday filed a plea deal in federal court outlining the agreement they’ve made with Daniel Temple, 36, of Malibu Drive on the East Side.

Secret Service agents investigated him after he wrote threatening posts to President Barack Obama’s Twitter account in late March.

Hearings on his guilty plea and sentencing have not been scheduled.

The new court filings indicate Temple “knowingly and willfully made a threat” with the intention to “harm, kidnap or kill” Obama. He could be sentenced to five years in prison and face a $250,000 fine.

His Twitter messages included “im coming to kill you” and “so I gotta kill barack obama first,” according to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Columbus. He also wrote about mind control, drones, breast cancer, guns and fatal car accidents.

The complaint says that Temple admitted he had posted all the messages on his account, @dttvinfo. He also posted messages about Secret Service agents visiting him at his apartment after they learned of the threats on March 24.

The Twitter account remains online. Temple has posted comments since his arrest in March, but none of those threatened the president. His most recent post was on April 5; he has 127 followers.